Dolls & Underwear
by Anggiemon
Summary: Ally is sick of her stage fright ruling her life and keeping her from making her dream a reality. So Austin is on a mission, he's going to help Ally overcome her stage fright. He's got a couple of ideas that will hopefully help Ally face her fear. Will Ally be able to perform on stage or will she choke on her hair?


**Hi there! :) This is my very first story. I thought I'd do it on something I know well and love. Austin and Ally! Yay! :D So here it is. Hope you like it. :3**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Austin & Ally.**

* * *

_**Cuz' I know that I'll make it**_

_**Over load the internet**_

_**A billion hits is what I'll get**_

The crowd cheered as the song ended. "And that was Austin Moon with 'A Billion Hits'! Thanks for tuning in to the Helen Show and see you next week!" Helen said to the audience and the cameras. The lights faded and Austin left the stage to see Ally, Trish and Dez smiling and congratulating him. They attacked Austin, hugging him tightly.

"That was amazing Austin!" Ally said, obviously proud of her best friend.

Austin grinned. "Thanks Ally!"

Ally loved watching Austin perform her songs on stage in front of a crowd, it was always delightful. Although, sometimes she wished she could be the one on stage singing her heart out with the crowd cheering for her. She can't help but be a little jealous of Austin's confidence sometimes. She really wished that her stage fright could just disappear; Ally hated the fact that this it's her holding her back from making her dream a reality. She sighed as her train of thought was interrupted by Trish talking.

"How about heading to Miami's Grilled Chicken to celebrate?" Trish suggested.

"I've never been there. How is it?" asked Dez.

"Oh it's pretty good. I should know, I just got fired from there yesterday."

"What did you do?"

"Apparently you need to grill the chicken before serving it to the costumers. How was I supposed to know that?" Trish shrugged her shoulders.

Austin and Ally laughed at their curly haired friend. "Alright then. Let's go check it out!" said Austin.

* * *

When they arrived at the restaurant they sat at a booth near the window showing the view of the beach. The sun was high in the sky and there were people splashing in the water and chilling on the beach. The restaurant was relatively packed too. Austin sat next to Ally while Dez sat next to Trish.

"Wow. I didn't know that there were so many different types of chicken." Dez intrigued by the menu, ordered every type of chicken possible.

"Are you sure about ordering all that? That's like ten dishes." Trish asked

"It's Dez. He'll be able to do it." Austin said, chuckling at his red haired best friend.

When the waiter came with the dishes, Dez devoured them in a couple of minutes. "This is amaaazing!" Dez said in between chews, with the occasional chunks of chicken flying out of his mouth.

"Keep the chicken in your mouth dude." Austin laughed at Dez's eating behavior while avoid the flying chunks. He looked to Ally who seem oddly out of character. "Ally, you've been quiet. You okay?"

"Hmm? Yeah I'm okay, just thinking." She answered obviously focused on something else.

"About what? Want to talk about it?"

"I just—"

Before Ally could answer him Dez started choking on his chicken.

"Oh my gosh Dez!" Ally said in shock.

Trish, who was sitting next to Dez patted his back trying to help him, maybe a little too hard. "We told you not to eat like a gorilla."

Dez choked even harder with Trish patting his back, but managed to stop soon after. "I'm good. I'm okay." He said panting and grabbing a glass of water.

Austin, Ally and Trish laughed at their friend. Even if it was purposely or unintentional, Dez always managed to make his friends laughed. They finished their meal and decided to head home after a long and tiring day.

Austin and Ally decided to go for ice cream and so they headed for _Scoop There It Is_. Ally got fruity mint swirl while Austin got chocolate chip. They paid for their ice cream and went to sit by the fountain.

"So what was it that you were going to say earlier? What were you thinking about?" Austin asked in between licks.

"Well..." Ally trailed off.

"Oh I know. Come with me."

"Huh? Where are you taking me Austin?"

Austin took Ally by the hand and ushered her towards the mall pond.

"I thought they turned this place into a parking lot?" Ally asked, glad to be at one of her favorite places.

"I guess they decided not to." Austin took a seat on the bench and gestured Ally to sit next to him. "So what was it you were thinking about?"

Ally hesitated, taking a seat next to Austin and then focusing on her ice cream.

Austin looked at Ally concerned. "You can tell me anything Ally. But if you're not comfortable telli—"

"I want to perform." Ally blurted.

Austin did a double take. "What?"

"I want to sing my songs on a stage with people cheering for me." Her voice softened, almost whispering, "I want to overcome my stage fright."

"Ally…"

"Every time I see you perform, I… I want to be like you. So confident. I don't want to be afraid anymore." She looked down, shaking a little.

"I'll help you Ally."

"You've tried, remember? When Tilly challenged me to sing _The Butterfly Song _in front of the entire mall."

"I'm Austin Moon, I don't give up so easily. I've got a couple of ideas, so let's go!" He grabbed Ally's hand and headed for the practice room at Sonic Boom.

* * *

Ally was standing in the middle of the practice room with her guitar while wearing a blind fold and earplugs.

"You can't be afraid if you don't see or hear the audience." Austin said, proud of his apparently brilliant idea.

"Uh Austin." Ally said with her hands in front of her trying to adjust. "I can't see or hear, how am I supposed to know when the music starts or where I'm going?"

"Oh yeah… I guess I didn't think of that." Austin said with his hand on his chin, thinking. "I guess this plan backfired. Next!"

* * *

A bunch of dolls were lined up sitting on chairs acting as an audience for Ally.

"Didn't we try this before? And it kind of failed." Ally said putting her hands on her hips.

Austin pulled Ally in front of the dolls. "Well, let's try again then!"

Ally sighed and tried play. "Umm…." She looked at the dolls and screamed.

"What's wrong Ally?"

"They're trying to eat me." She said as she hid behind Austin. She remembered back when she first got her stage fright, when the piano tried to eat her.

"What? Eat you? Okay then, I guess we'll try something else."

* * *

"Go and defeat that giant crab." Austin said handing Ally an umbrella. There was a foam crab that looked similar to the one from _Claws, Dun-Dun-Dun_.

She took the umbrella looking puzzled. "What does a giant crab have to do with my stage fright?"

"Well, I overcame my fear for umbrellas by fighting a giant crab."

"That wasn't real; it was for Dez's movie." Ally looked at him as-a-matter-of-factly. "And a crab," she whacked the crab, "has nothing to do," she took another whack at it, "with my stage fright." One last whack and it exploded covering Austin and Ally in some sort of goo. "Although I do feel less stressful, but no dice on the stage fright."

* * *

Next, they decided to try a more traditional method.

"You know that saying 'picture the audience in their underwear'?"

"Yeah… What about it?" Ally looked at her best friend. She knew something weird was about to happen.

"I thought that if you practice in front of an audience in their underwear then performing for a real audience will be easy!"

"Okay, that doesn't really make any sense and I have a bad feeling about this."

"Come on in Dez!"

Dez came in wearing colorful starfish boxers with a couple of random people also in their underwear. The moment Dez stepped in the room Ally immediately covered her eyes.

"Oh. My. Gosh. There are so many things I don't need to see in this world." Covering her view of Dez, Ally looked at Austin. "I don't think this is a good idea Austin."

"Come on Ally, just try." Austin tried peeling Ally's hands off of her eyes, with no avail.

Ally barked at Dez. "No! Dez put on some pants!"

"But I love the breeze." Dez said spinning around a couple times.

"And who are those random people? Not wearing pants. Can we please move on to another idea?"

"I found them on the street, nice huh? Just try. Please Ally?" And there it is, Austin's signature puppy dog eyes. No one in the universe can withstand that adorable look. Ally tried looking away; she was weak when it came to Austin's puppy dog look. But it was useless, one look and she caved.

"Okay fine!" She slowly uncovered her eyes, still appalled at what Dez was wearing. Or rather, not wearing.

"Aren't you embarrassed Dez?" She asked him, still a little uncomfortable.

"Nope. Maybe you should perform in your underwear to get rid of your stage fright."

"No, I'm good." Ally sat at the piano and tried to perform for Dez and the random people. She couldn't believe that Austin found random people willing to show up in their underwear, but didn't think too much of it. She looked at Austin one more time before starting. He gave her two thumbs up and she played. Or rather, tried to play, she was shaking too much. "Uh…I…uh…" Odd noises were coming out of the piano. Ally struggled to hit the right notes. She would occasionally look at the audience and Austin. After a few minutes of failed attempts she finally stopped playing and stood up. "This is hopeless Austin. They're making me more nervous and not to mention uncomfortable. I think we should just give up. I'm never going to be able to overcome my stage fright." She said as she stood up and left the room

"Ally!" Austin said, going after her.

Austin searched all over the mall for Ally, she couldn't have gotten far. He called her home to see if she was there but she wasn't. She checked all of Ally's favorite places, from the library to the pond, he still couldn't find her. So he decided to head back to Sonic Boom hoping that maybe she came back.

* * *

Austin came back to Sonic Boom with no luck. Ally was nowhere in sight. He sighed and sat at the sofas near the door. He thought about where Ally could be. He really wanted to help her overcome her stage fright. To Austin, Ally was the most talented singer-songwriter he's ever met. It made him sad to think that she has to keep it hidden. Sure his past attempts to help Ally backfired, such as the Helen Show incident and the Miami Mack incident. But he was determined to help her this time. He's not going to let his best friend down. He stood up leave and stopped when he saw a shoe peeking under the table. He remembered back at Trish's Quinceañera and went under the table.

"I guess you found me." Her eyes were puffy from crying.

"Ally…" Austin put his hand on her shoulder.

"Why am I such a coward?" She sniffled. "I wish I wasn't me."

"Don't say that Ally. I love who you are, a lot of people do. You're awesome." Austin said with a reassuring smile.

Ally stared at her best friend before engulfing him in a hug, tears pouring down her face. Austin sat there hugging her tightly. They sat like that for a while before Ally finally stopped crying and let go of Austin.

"Thanks Austin." She smiled at him. "I feel better now."

"That's great." He smiled at her. "Hey Ally, I have one more idea if you're willing to try?"

"I uh…" Ally hesitated. She didn't want to give up, but she didn't want to embarrass herself even more. Then she looked into Austin's deep brown eyes. There was something in his eyes that made Ally feel confident, she knew she could trust her best friend. "Alright, let's do it."

Austin helped Ally from under the table. "By the way, don't you have a mall performance today?" She glanced at her watch. "And it's right now! Austin, you're going to be late! Let's go!" Ally dragged Austin by the hand and headed for the mall stage.

"I need to help you with your stage fright." Austin said as they reached the stage.

"We can do that after your performance."

"Why don't we do it during?"

"Huh?"

"Perform on stage now."

"What? Are you out of your mind? I can't do that, I can barely perform in front of dolls, let alone an entire audience of real people!"

"Do you trust me?" This time he didn't use his puppy dog eyes trick. His eyes showed something more genuine.

"I…," Ally looked at her feet, "can't do it. I can't be on that stage alone."

"Oh you won't be alone. Come on." Austin headed for the stage and sat Ally on the piano and kneeled. Ally gasped.

"Austin wha—"

"Ally Dawson," His eyes we're dead serious, "will you perform with me?"

Ally sighed in relief and laughed to herself. "You freaked me out a bit there Austin."

"Why? What did you think I was going to say?" He looked at her innocently.

Ally rubbed her temples. "Never mind."

"So what do you say? Maybe if you have your best friend on stage with you you'll be a little less nervous." He held her hands and looked deep into her eyes. Ally felt a sudden surge of confidence sitting there looking into Austin's eyes.

"Okay."

"Awesome." Austin smiled and grabbed the microphone. The curtains opened and the crowd cheered. Ally flinched a little but kept her eyes focused on Austin. "Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Austin Moon and I'm going to sing a song for you." The crowd roared and Ally felt the sudden urge to chew on her hair. "Today I have a very special guest with me today." Austin continued. "She's the reason there are all these wonderful songs that I sing and she's a huge part of my life." Austin paused and gestured to Ally. "My partner and best friend, Ally Dawson!" The crowd cheered again, Ally froze and smiled nervously. Austin sat next to Ally on the piano. "Ready Ally?"

"I uh…" She hesitated but then felt Austin's hand squeezing her own. It was as if he was giving her confidence, and he was. She looked him in the eyes and started playing. Austin smiled at his best friend, he was so proud.

_**Whoa, Yeah  
Stop, hiding out in the shadows  
Scared to show the world you exist  
Don't, lock yourself in the darkness  
The world is so much brighter than this  
Yeah if you never take the shock  
You never gonna win  
So turn it all around and**_

Austin sang with so much passion. He didn't even look at the audience, he sang to Ally. He looked at her, his eyes telling her to sing along. And she did.

_**Break down the walls, whoa  
Come on and give it everything you get  
Take a chance, make a stand and  
Break, break, break down walls, whoa  
Break down the walls, whoa**_

_**Break down the walls, whoa**_  
_**Come on and take a chance make a stand and**_  
_**Break, break, break down the walls**_  
_**Break down the walls**_

The crowd roared once again, cheering and clapping. Austin and Ally hugged as the curtains closed.

"I'm so proud of you Ally. You were amazing!" He let go of Ally and she fell to the ground. "Oh my gosh! Ally! Are you okay?" He picked her up, carried her back stage and set her down on a sofa.

"That was amazing guys!" Trish said as she walked towards Austin and Ally, with Dez not far behind.

"Yeah! That was totally amazing! Whoa is Ally dead?" Trish punched Dez in the arm. "Oww!"

"No carrot top, she's probably overwhelmed by what she just did. She did an awesome job out there." Trish said smiling at her sleeping best friend. "Thanks Austin."

Austin looked at Trish confused. "Why are you thanking me?"

"Because it's what Ally would say if she isn't passed out at the moment. I've known her for a long time; I know what she's thinking. You're an amazing friend Austin, she's so lucky to have a best friend like you."

Austin smiled at Trish's statement. _'I'm so lucky to have a best friend like her.'_ He thought.

"We should let her rest." Trish said.

"Yeah." Austin looked at Ally's sleeping face. He smiled at how peaceful she looked. "Now the world knows how talented you are."

* * *

**So what did you think? :)**


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